Newlands forest blaze doused

One hundred firefighters and three water-bombing helicopters battled a blaze above Newlands Forest for three days before taming the burn.

The fire, close to Skeleton Gorge in Kirstenbosch, started on Monday at about 2.30pm. It was put out early on Wednesday.

Fire and Rescue spokesman Theo Layne said the cause of the fire was unknown. But SANParks Table Mountain National Park fire manager Philip Prins said an investigation by Rob Erasmus, from Enviro Wildfires, had found the fire had been sparked by a “massive rock fall along the Skeleton
Gorge.

“Ground crew from Working on Fire, Volunteer Wildfire Services and NCC Wildfires were active on the fire, conducting fire suppression and mop up operations of the areas burnt,” he said.

No injuries or damage to property were reported, but a lot of vegetation on the mountain slope was burnt.

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